Hyderabad: Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy on Saturday said the State government paid Rs 20,585 crore to purchase 48,486 Million Units (MU) of power in the State.

Responding to a question on power purchases by the government raised by BJP leader G Kishan Reddy during the Question Hour in the Assembly, the Energy Minister said the government purchased power from various companies including Genco (13,784 MU), CGS (8,516 MU), SCCL (7,477 MU) Chhattisgarh (4,245 MU), Sembcorp (5,004 MU), other solar companies (9,067 MU). The government also made purchases from open market, he added

The power was purchased from Andhra Pradesh government at Rs 4.56 per unit, Telangana Rs 4.54 per unit, Tamil Nadu Rs 4.72 per unit, and Karnataka Rs 4.59 per unit.

The Minister said since Telangana companies were also newly formed, the fixed cost would be more resulting in higher price. He pointed out that the government companies have been quoting higher price than the private companies.

Giving examples, the Minister said the NTPC Vellur charges Rs 5.42 per unit and NTPC Kudgi charges Rs 5.46 per unit, whereas the private company Sembcorp provides power at Rs 4.12 per unit. “We have written to the Centre that we cannot purchase from Kudigi. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao wanted power purchase from anywhere to ensure crops of the farmers are not dried,” he said.

He said the Central government institutions were behaving like private companies. When the government inquired about the power price, NTPC Kudankulam quoted Rs 10 per unit and also wanted three months payment in advance. Nowhere in the country the companies seek three months advance, he added. He said the government would have to follow the guidelines of ERC even if open tenders are called.

On the question permitting the industries to get power from open access, the Minister said because of such relaxations, the DISCOMS were facing losses hence the government was discouraging such relaxation. The Minister said the State had got no benefit even after joining the Uday scheme of the Central government.

He said the government had taken the burden of Rs 8,000 crore of the DISCOMS. There is no contribution of the Centre in the free power supplied in the State and entire subsidy was given by the State government. He also clarified that the Telangana State was not a surplus State in power.

The power demand before the formation of Telangana was 6,500 MWs but now the demand was 10,300 MW, which was more than bigger States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, he added.